Sany’s net profits have fallen by 40 percent since 2011, according to the report, with sales expected to drop to $6.7 billion this year. Meanwhile, Zoomlion’s first half earnings report showed that profits had been cut in half since the year prior and XCMG’s stock price has fallen by 75 percent.

And though the companies have slowed production by a third and things are looking better in terms of construction activity in their home country of China, the 280,000 machines on the market there are 50 percent more than what is needed, the Forbes report says.

The report says that due largely to over-support by the Chinese government during the country’s infrastructure boom, the companies appear to have been unprepared for the rigors global expansion. Specifically, convincing reputable dealers to distribute their machines.

What’s worse is that due to the high importance each company plays in its local economy, the report says they were unable to adapt to the market effectively. “Each of these three is tightly woven into the economy of its region; payrolls must support tens of thousands of workers,” the report reads. “So when business went bad, none of them cut payrolls by more than a few percentage points.”